The Presidential Election

[Tink]

I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking of that Judy. I seriously feel we need to think beyond the elections... to what affect each would have on our lives. I think many think of the elections as they do a wedding... the big day itself gets so much attention that we lose focus of what the long term affects it will be.

Yes, it's long past time to have a woman or a minority represented in the white house... but are we really ready to deal with the repercussions?

[Lindsey]

Well, we have a whole crapload of people to vote for here There are a few big ones but a lot of little ones as well. I just checked wikipedia to see which parties were around for our last election and this is the list:
Conservative Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
Bloc Québécois
New Democratic Party
Green Party of Canada
Christian Heritage Party of Canada
Progressive Canadian Party
Marijuana Party of Canada
Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist)
Canadian Action Party
Communist Party of Canada
Libertarian Party of Canada
First Peoples National Party of Canada
Western Block Party
Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party
The Conservatives, Liberals, Bloc, and NDP are really the big ones. We had the Liberal party in power with Jean Chretien since the beginning of time (I swear, he was Prime Minister forever) but he stepped down and Paul Martin (Liberal) took over and there was this huge sponsorship scandal which forced another election. The Conservatives are now in power, but only as a minority government. They only ended up with about 40% of the vote, but it was more than any other party. So the minority government means that they are relying on the support of other parties to stay in power. If our current PM (Stephen Harper) starts making big decisions that the other parties are against, another election will be called. No minority government in the history of Canada has ever stayed in power for the full 4 year term!

[Marilyn]

Lindsey, that is a complicated system you have. We actually have many more parties if you really look into it, but the two real parties are the ones you hear so much about. The others are just there to kinda be on the record for having another opinion on things.

Tink, I never thought about "what if Obama was assassinated". That is really something to think about!! That would cause a race war for sure!!!. Just look at what happens when a white cop treats a black man badly on camera. That is nothing compared to what would happen if a black President were assassinated. And the blacks would forget that it took the approval of all the other races to get the black candidate elected. It's not like we as a whole have anything against him, but we would suffer none the less.

I agree, we don't have a very good choice this time. Basically of the three, I like Obama, but there are things that he is for that I am very much against. This year is a no-win. I do think a lot of people will just not bother to vote in the general election. I too am an Independent but with Libertarian tendencies. I just think the government needs to get out of our business. While I do think that we need to do something to make our healthcare more affordable for lower income people, I do not favor socialized medicine. There is a reason that much of the priviledged in the world comes to the US for their healthcare.

We need to each have our own personal moral system to dictate how we act and how we treat each other. The government is not the answer to all our problems. We need to take responsibility for our actions and teach the children in our schools from pre-K on to be responisible moral human beings.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

[judy]

Originally Posted by Marilyn

Lindsey, that is a complicated system you have. We actually have many more parties if you really look into it, but the two real parties are the ones you hear so much about. The others are just there to kinda be on the record for having another opinion on things.

Tink, I never thought about "what if Obama was assassinated". That is really something to think about!! That would cause a race war for sure!!!. Just look at what happens when a white cop treats a black man badly on camera. That is nothing compared to what would happen if a black President were assassinated. And the blacks would forget that it took the approval of all the other races to get the black candidate elected. It's not like we as a whole have anything against him, but we would suffer none the less.

I agree, we don't have a very good choice this time. Basically of the three, I like Obama, but there are things that he is for that I am very much against. This year is a no-win. I do think a lot of people will just not bother to vote in the general election. I too am an Independent but with Libertarian tendencies. I just think the government needs to get out of our business. While I do think that we need to do something to make our healthcare more affordable for lower income people, I do not favor socialized medicine. There is a reason that much of the priviledged in the world comes to the US for their healthcare.

We need to each have our own personal moral system to dictate how we act and how we treat each other. The government is not the answer to all our problems. We need to take responsibility for our actions and teach the children in our schools from pre-K on to be responisible moral human beings.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

Great post Marilyn! I agree with everything you said, and you said it so well.

[Janet]

I agree Marilyn...a great post!

[Marilyn]

Thank you, thank you, I'd run for office, but the press would probably find out about the late library books and late videos from Blockbuster and my reputation would be shot!! Oh, and the baby sitters I never sent a 1099 to. They'd never forgive me for that!!!

[Lindsey]

Originally Posted by Marilyn

Lindsey, that is a complicated system you have. We actually have many more parties if you really look into it, but the two real parties are the ones you hear so much about. The others are just there to kinda be on the record for having another opinion on things.

I guess it does seem a bit complicated by my post, but it's not really that bad! What I like about it is that really the people get what the people want. It's a big ordeal to get a U.S. president out of power before his term is up, isn't it? Here if you're not liked, you're outta there! For example, if we were the ones heading the war in Iraq and the opposition said "Oh hell no, the people of Canada want no part of this!" then if the minority government didn't change their mind, another election would be called, and we would then vote for either a government who wants to go to war, or a government that doesn't, or a government who has a completely different idea. Basically, everyone's gotta agree, or at least partially agree, before something goes through, or else they risk an election and loss of power.

[Marilyn]

Originally Posted by Lindsey

I guess it does seem a bit complicated by my post, but it's not really that bad! What I like about it is that really the people get what the people want. It's a big ordeal to get a U.S. president out of power before his term is up, isn't it? Here if you're not liked, you're outta there! For example, if we were the ones heading the war in Iraq and the opposition said "Oh hell no, the people of Canada want no part of this!" then if the minority government didn't change their mind, another election would be called, and we would then vote for either a government who wants to go to war, or a government that doesn't, or a government who has a completely different idea. Basically, everyone's gotta agree, or at least partially agree, before something goes through, or else they risk an election and loss of power.

Wow, sounds like a novel idea!!!!! Government by the people for the people and of the people. Isn't that called democracy or something. Isn't democracy what we are trying to force on the Middle East. Maybe we should try it here in the US!!?? Ya think????

[Tink]

Well I'm up for a change... but it's hard to get when money rules.

[judy]

That's a serious democracy Lindsey! We're actually not a true democracy - we have a capitalistic government.

We have many, many rights, and I love America, but we do have to be realistic about what kind of government we have. When the majority (of electoral votes, not citizens) rules, the minority loses.